The Pay Gap between Male and Female Jobs: Organizational and Legal Realities

Legalizing Gender Inequality results from a decade of research in which Robert Nelson, a sociologist of law, combined forces with William Bridges, a sociologist who has studied labor markets. This combination led to an unusual and creative approach. The authors chose four class-action court cases involving sex discrimination in pay, and did in-depth studies of the judicial decisions, testimony, exhibits, and depositions from each. They also obtained and reanalyzed statistical data sets involved in the cases and, where possible, interviewed key actors.